


Caught out

by xantissa



Series: Carnival of Rust [19]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Ending, Fix-It, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-15
Updated: 2013-08-15
Packaged: 2017-12-23 13:52:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/927259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xantissa/pseuds/xantissa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So that thing where Jim fell into complete rage and paranoia when not in contact with Khan for a certain period of time? Yes it’s still in effect, only this time it’s Turin who notices things.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Caught out

**Author's Note:**

> Did you know that Gengis Khan forbade torture?

Jim focused his eyes at a point far ahead, trying desperately to control his breathingand not the rage take over. Logically he knew it wasn’t Mr. Sulu that he was angry at, but for some reason the attack came faster and harder than before. The pilot shifted closer to the Captain and Jim felt something dark rise in him.

 

_How dare he get so close, I should just teach him his place, I should..._

 

“Oh! Captain! I was looking for you!” the forcefully cheerful voice of the blond Augment, Turin, broke into Jim’s red haze.

 

He looked at the blond, his mind screeching to a halt, having trouble with switching targets so rapidly. There was something strangely familiar in that huge figure.

 

One of Jim’s hands was clutching desperately at the neared railing, the metal cutting into his skin, and his eyes followed Turin’s approach. The Blond had a wide smile on his face and he was dressed in the usual Starfleet issue uniform that strained dangerously over his powerful chest and thighs. He smiled almost guilessly at Jim and Sulu and then proceeded to skillfully slide between the Captain and the pilot, all the while making excuses.

 

“I really hope you didn’t need the Captain for anything too important, I’m afraid I need him rather bad at the moment. But don’t fear I will return him in perfect working order.” He kept babbling, most of his bulk hiding Jim from Mr. Sulu’s sight. Kirk managed to stay as still as possible and not jump when he felt Turin’s hand peeling his fingers away from the railing. “Anyway I need to take the Captain away now. Sorry and bye!” In a flurry of movement, and some artfully staged trips and apologies Turin disengaged Jim fully from the railing and pulled him away from the corridor and into the nearest turbolift.

 

“Sorry about this.” The blond said as soon as the door shut behind them and then proceeded to hit Jim with an open palm to his chest. The blow seemed to be carefully deliberate. It hurt a little but mostly it stunned Jim, pushing the breath out of him and making him loose and uncoordinated. He started to slide down but the blond caught him and made him lean on the wall. “I just stunned your nervous system. It will pass on its own in a few moments but I should be able to get you to Khan by then.”

 

Getting even more fuzzy, but at least not in the violent rage any more, Jim shot him a questioning look.

 

The blond smiled, oddly gently at the young Captain.

 

“I recognize the signs.” There was something wry in his expression, his voice understanding.

 

Something of his curiosity must have showed in his face because Turin continued his explanation:

 

“Your doctor hasn’t noticed yet?” The blond man’s brows went up. “I take big transfusions of Khan’s blood every few weeks. All the touching we do is to manage the symptoms, although after all those years I don’t really experience them with that kind of intensity anymore.”

 

Jim was too stunned to consider Turin’s answer but filled it away for later.

 

“It’s obviously been too long.” Said the blond as he hauled Jim out of the turbolift. The Captain noticed that Turin didn’t even seem to notice he was carrying a fully grown man around. Jim tried not to think about all the times he almost knocked on Khan’s door before realizing that the Augment wasn’t alone in his bedroom, that there was always Katya or Turin, or both with him. He made it a point of not thinking of what exactly was going on in that room every night.

 

As the blond Augment manhandled him, Kirk realized that while the touch wasn’t calming the way Khan’s was, it wasn’t aggravating either. Painfully, he learned that during his episodes, it was better if nobody touched him. It didn’t matter how much he liked and trusted the person normally, during the attack everyone irritated him, aggravated the rage into white hot flame, made him think horrible things and actually want to kill and maim with his bare hands. Turin felt... neutral. Like nobody before did.

 

Jim lost another pocket of time, he came to while being onto a bed, there were quite a lot of hands on him but this time the stunning rush was very familiar to him.

 

Khan.

 

“Boss, I found him in this condition already. He’s practically starved. Why didn’t you tell us you gave your blood to somebody? We would have given you some privacy!” Turin sounded as if he was outright scolding Khan. It was... fairly stunning.

 

Jim had to admit, he was outright jealous. Not only did Turin have the guts to scold Khan, he was being listened to, also.

 

“I didn’t. His doctor made some kind of serum from my blood and injected him with it to save him from severe radiation poisoning.” Khan sounded almost defensive, but his hands were sure and almost gentle on the back of Jim’s neck.

 

Khan was actually explaining himself. Willingly.

 

_Mind. Boggling._

 

“Are you saying that you didn’t know about the bond?” This time the blond’s voice was incredulous.

 

There was a bit of silence.

 

“I knew.”

 

Turin exhaled loudly, obviously trying to calm his temper.

 

“So you deliberately withheld contact from him.” Jim fought the urge to frown. Turin seemed genuinely angry on his behalf. “That’s outright cruel Khan.” The huge blond said firmly with some kind of unfathomable gentleness. “That is torture Boss and I thought we agreed a long time ago that torture would never be something we accepted, much less did ourselves.”

 

There was a kind of sharp, aborted movement from Khan that transferred through his hands to Jim. It took a moment for the human to realize that Khan actually flinched.

 

The silence that reigned after those words was heavy and thick, uncomfortable even for Jim despite him not being the one responsible for the tension.

 

“I... don’t like having him close.”

 

_Oh._

 

Logically Jim knew he had a crush on the Augment, probably heavily influenced by the odd blood bond between them. While he admired the man’s intelligence and control, he also pitied him for all the suffering he experienced and wondered what kind of man he might have been if none of that happened. He also despised him for his disregard for human lives, for his superiority complex and all the deaths he caused, including Admiral Pike. Even if logically he knew nothing would ever come from that crush, it still felt like a blow to hear those words spoken aloud.

 

“Why?” Turin’s question was downright odd. Not only was the man fearless, he was tenacious as hell.

 

Khan took a deep breath, Jim could feel his chest expand from how close the man sat to Jim.

 

“He’s infuriating!” Khan exploded suddenly. “It doesn’t matter how many times I show him, he still doesn’t see me! He is as blind as a bat and naïve like a child always trying to see the good in people and trying to force me into his childish ideas of non-lethal resolutions!”

 

“It doesn’t answer my question at all.” Turin said wryly. “So the man doesn’t see you as the coldly calculating monster that you try to portray recently. So what? I always thought you were the best thing since sliced bread and you never complained.”

 

Jim had to bite his cheek to stop himself from reacting. Turin was very clearly insane. Who said things like that?

 

_the best thing since sliced bread_

 

Really?

 

Khan snorted, a sound obviously used to cover a laugh trying to escape before answering, calmer now.

 

“I feel uncomfortable letting him so close into my personal space.” God, Khan’s voice. It was one of the most prominent features of the Augment, that velvety, purring, dark voice that could express so many different emotions at the same time. Jim wasn’t the only one to notice it. Actually it was such a distinctive feature Spock went as far as research acting techniques and voice training, the Vulcan was absolutely sure that Khan was consciously using his voice to manipulate people.

 

This time it was Turin that snorted.

 

“I call bullshit. I always thought that you didn’t evenknow about the existence of personal space, much less bother to adhere to social rules about it. You are the least body-shy person I know, so maybe tell me the truth?”

 

Jim wondered at the guts one had to have to challenge Khan like that.

 

The silence was longer this time, although less uncomfortable. As if Khan realized that the other man wasn’t going to let it go no matter what.

 

“It feels uncomfortable. Different than with any other before. I... don’t like that.”

 

Turin let out a long breath.

 

“For such a brilliant man, you can be such a total idiot sometimes. It’s amazing, really amazing.” Turin murmured, moving away from the bed.

 

“I have no idea what you mean.” Khan said coldly, obviously irritated at his friend.

 

“Yeah boss, I’m sure you don’t.” Turin answered sarcastically punching in the door code. “Anyway I will leave you two alone. Don’t starve him of contact again, I will make a schedule and deliver it to you and him tomorrow. And I _will_ check it.” The door chimed open. “I will take Katya with me today.” He added as a farewell and stepped out of the room.

 

The end.

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> The idea was that people can be unintentionally cruel. You know, Khan's version of pulling pigtails.


End file.
